Eve and I went to
the Aquatic Center today to do a little make-up swim lesson. On
the way we saw a GIGANTIC turtle by the side of the road. The
turtle was walking, slowly, towards the road. I pulled over and
moments later a few other people did to. The turtle promptly
laid down and stopped moving. We were all a bit concerned that
the turtle would try to cross the road and there’s no way it
would have made it! I think it could have done some damage to a
car too! Anyway, we hung out for awhile and then a game warden
happened by. He pulled over when he saw the turtle, or the
crowd, and told us that it’s a female snapping turtle and
trying to lay eggs. He said they prefer the gravely, compacted
soil by the sides of the road. He said he hadn’t seen this
specific one, but he said all over town there are turtles
laying eggs by the side of the road. Weird, huh? He said he
didn’t think she would cross the road, more likely just lay
eggs and go back to the swampy area she came from. He also said
that snapping turtles have necks over a foot long and reach out
and snap super quickly. We hung out for a bit longer than went
off to the splash park.

While swimming
Eve drew tons of attention, a group of older women even broke
into applause after one particularly spectacular jump into the
water. She has a great mix of personality, always entertaining,
and fun in the water. She attracts attention everywhere we
go.